The present invention relates to fasteners for attaching wires to supports, and more particularly, to spring fasteners for mounting fencing wires to channel-shaped fence supports. More specifically, the fastener of the present invention may be used to mount the wire at an oblique angle to the support, as is done in the case of "cyclone" fences.
The prior art discloses several fasteners for mounting elongated members such as a wire, a conduit, a pipe or the like, to a generally channel-shaped support. Examples of such prior art fasteners may be seen by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,360,375, 2,863,625 and 3,532,311.
The prior art fasteners have not been completely satisfactory, especially when utilized for mounting fencing wire to channel-shaped fencing supports, as the fasteners allowed considerable undesirable rotation of the wire relative to the support, prevented axial movement of the wire relative to the support, frequently required a rotational installation procedure and/or were not designed to be permanently mounted to the support member. As used herein, the term "permanently mounted" means that the wire is mounted to the support in such a manner that the wire can be disassembled from the support only by destroying, or at least damaging the fastener.